And so fall’s most provocative contender enters the arena. Heading in I think we all knew Shobitch (because long names hurt the fingers) would be crazy, although the full extent of its depravity was an enticing unknown as hinted to by the ever trusty RC preview. Seitokai Yakuindomo humour, Shimoneta fan service, a mix of both? No damn idea, but with dirty humour you at least have a guideline for what to expect (i.e. sex). The main issue with these shows of course is their execution, and so far unfortunately, Shobitch misses this mark more often than it hits it.

Right off the bat Shobitch certainly doesn’t hide what it’s about: sex. Well harems and sis-con fantasies too, but we’ll get to that in a moment. We start with the usual beta in Haruka (Ichiki Mitsuhiro) crushing hard on the smart and stunning class rep Akiho (Yuuki Aoi), only to ask her out…and wind up with a new girlfriend? Big red flag if I ever saw one: beta boy never gets the girl. It’s a good setup though for revealing Akiho’s own blunt naivety, as the girl decides the only way to keep lover boy around is by meeting any and all sexual fantasies. All of them. Great environment for making funnies if there was ever one, even if the humour in practice sort of fell flat. I’m not exactly sure what the problem was, but most of the jokes involving just Akiho and Haruka lacked the “oomph” you get from similar situations in say Seitokai Yakuindomo—they were not as funny as they were try hard. Part of the issue too is how much better the jokes worked once big sister Shizuku (Takeda Tago Rarisa) entered the picture, with her extroverted spunk and plentiful smirk faces (otherwise known as best girl material) making a lot of the subsequent comedy actually funny in comparison. This may be down to Akiho’s rather bland personality at the moment (she’s guaranteed to develop as the show progresses), but it’s a little concerning having her main competition already coming across as the better choice. After all Akiho may have found the power of sis-con indulgence, but Shizuku already has her own answer for that.

This matter of course factors directly into Shobitch’s main theme, which very much is harem shenanigans. Any astute viewer should already know what’s coming, between best girl Shizuku’s not so inconspicuous crush on beta boy (don’t deny, you know it’s there) and the OP/ED teasing of several additional girls for our viewing pleasure. We already know of the actual sister Kanata for example, but I imagine she is only the tip of the trope-filled iceberg for what Shobitch truly has planned. With a strong focus on everything sexual the situations will basically write themselves, however as mentioned previously the primary concern is how well the humour actually works. If the show sticks to the antics of this episode it will definitely not get far, as a boring comedy is a thoroughly un-entertaining comedy and quickly becomes a chore to watch. Shobitch needs its jokes to start performing if it’s to be something more, which is certainly possible if the rest of the cast (and Akiho herself) can rise to the occasion and make up for lost time. No guarantee of course, but I’m an optimistic thinker with a thing for dirty humour. I want this show to succeed.

While definitely not the most impressive of introductions, Shobitch has time and all the pieces needed to improve—provided it can get its comedic feet under it. If Shobitch can find its inner jokester and give us an outrageous cast to work with, there’s nothing stopping it from being one of this season’s big surprises. The only question now is if it’s capable of rising (heh) to the occasion.

I’m liking Akiho as a character for her deadpan expression as she talks about her interest in lewd topics, but Shizuku put a damper on the episode for me. It didn’t need to aggressively push the harem angle so early, especially if it was going to be a show like Seitokai Yakuindomo where it’s more about the jokes than seeing if the main couple stays together with so much competition to wedge them apart. I wanted more Akiho, dangit!

Might just be down to personal taste, usually I’m a sucker for the deadpan too, but a lot of Akiho jokes just didn’t work for me as much as Shizuku’s did. Could be owing to Haruka as well, his reactions were mediocre at best a lot of the time, which Shizuku’s pushy personality helped paper over.

Guess I’m just hoping the main couple gets some development quickly :P

It is true that the straight man can make or break a show, and I’m not confident that Haruka has it in him to react with more than just acting shocked or embarrassed. He does kill alot of the momentum that some of the jokes that Akiho and Shizuku have, like the person that says “no” during an improv skit. I have a feeling that the fact that he’s a pushover is probably what got on my case with Shizuku when, in another show, she’d be perfect. That, and we already have a sex-crazed virgin with Akiho so it feels redundant to have another sex-crazed virgin character, but flirtier.

I’d hope that there’s more development for the couple at least in how the jokes come out so it doesn’t feel like Haruka keeps holding Akiho back from being funny.

Could be owing to Haruka as well, his reactions were mediocre at best a lot of the time,…

I thought exactly the same as I watched this episode and just for confirming my feelings about this I went and rewatched the first two episodes of Seitokai Yakuindomo and I (still) found it hilarious contrary to this premiere. What makes SYD so enjoyable to watch is that Tsuda is one of the best tsukkomi out there so even when he stays in the background his presence is still there and that the show can alternate between the sex jokes and other topics (like Suzu being small, or Mitsuba’s happy go lucky behaviour).

I dunno about everyone else, but I lost it at this part (probably because, even though I expected something weird, I wasn’t expecting what we got XD) – Haruka having the usual initial fantasy idea before shaking it off while everything is quiet, then he opens the door and is greeted with a loud, “ONII-SAMA!!!” and whipping noises, then *SLAM!* XD

Though I guess I like Akiho because, as we learn later, she knows that people think she’s weird because of her naivety and often talk about her behind her back, so Haruka was probably the first classmate to genuinely talk to her, and so all she really wants to do is try her best at being “a good girlfriend” while also being afraid that Haruka would end up being driven away by also thinking she’s too weird, and yet he’s still treating her normally despite her lack of understanding.

I’m very happy with the show. True the comedy was mostly flat, but imho the romance is very cute. I feel both of the main characters are sympathy, so I with for more development for both. Maybe the premise would have worked even better with more emphasis on the romance and less on the comedy.